Why Sports Ticket Pricing Should Resemble Airline Ticket Pricing

Michigan International Speedway will repeat its practice of
increasing ticket prices as events draw near,
the Sporting News reports. General admission tickets
will cost $10 through January, increase to $25 in February, and
take another $5 hike in March.

Though the pricing model did not yield higher ticket sales, it
did slow the attendance decline NASCAR racetracks throughout the
country have experienced.

This method of pricing – similar to airlines increasing ticket
prices as flights near – is certainly something other athletic
venues, and especially struggling teams in major sports, should
consider. Incentivizing early ticket purchases is beneficial both
to the fans and to the franchise.

Longtime fans are rewarded for their unconditional loyalty to a
team by getting lower prices. Meanwhile, the team has insurance
against falling out of playoff contention early. Plus they get
early indication of yearly revenue.

Of course, there are some drawbacks. Sparsely attended games are
less likely to draw last-minute customers. It also rewards
scalpers who set prices lower than the stadium box office, but
higher than their purchase point.

Still, it's proven successful enough that the International
Speedway Corp. is considering expanding this practice to other
raceways. So it's probably only a matter of time before a
struggling NBA franchise ushers the pricing plan into team
sports.